Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Sparks defeated the Indiana Fever, with 20-plus-point performances from Nneka Ogwumike, Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell leading LA past the century mark to 106 total points, the second-most the team had scored in a game this season.
Two nights later, Ogwumike steered the Sparks to another high-scoring victory. LA won consecutive games for just the third time this season behind Nneka’s 34 points, triumphing over the Chicago Sky with former Vice President Kamala Harris
in attendance.
Considering Kelsey Plum remains on the sidelines with a leg injury, the wins were well-earned reasons for optimism in a LA season defined by underachievement.
So, it was surprising that the Los Angeles brass decided Sunday afternoon was the time to “part ways” with general manager Raegan Pebley, who had held the position since Jan. 2024. Assistant general managers Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen will share interim general manager duties for the remainder of the season.
While the timing might be odd, casting a cloud right when the Sparks were enjoying at least some shine under the California sun, the ultimate decision is not. During Pebley’s tenure, LA has rivaled only Chicago when it comes to short-sighted decisions and asset mismanagement, all executed in the name of “win now.”
Not nearly enough wins have come, and Pebley’s out the door.
Before the season, Edwin Garcia cautioned that the Sparks’ aggressive offseason could end in regret, as the organization could end up in an even worse spot if the veteran group so confidently assembled to end a five-year playoff drought failed to achieve that aim.
Halfway through the season, the Sparks, by firing the general manager who engineered this team build, appeared to have admitted defeat.
Sparks fans now are left to dream about the promising core of player that could have been, where Cameron Brink, instead of being the last young prospect left in LA, could have been surrounded Rickea Jackson (traded for Ariel Atkins), Dominique Malonga (pick traded for Kelsey Plum) and Sarah Ashlee Barker (left unprotected in the expansion draft). Or, if you prefer, replace Jackson with Fam (pick traded for the Jackson pick).
The Sparks also left Julie Allemand unprotected in the 2026 expansion draft and let Azurá Stevens walk back to Chicago in free agency. Two more recent second-round draft picks, Sania Feagin and Ta’Niya Latson, were cut without ever being given much of look in LA, with both being immediately picked up by other teams.
The alternate timeline Sparks also probably aren’t a playoff team.
But they could sell something that, for some fans, is better than wins: hope.
The potential of the alt-Sparks, a team that might be positioned to have the best lottery odds in what is expected to be the JuJu Watkins draft, intrigues. The reality of the actual Sparks only underwhelms.
LA will be in Atlanta on Monday night, taking on a Dream team dealing with bouts of adversity that have some Atlanta fans calling for change (7 p.m. ET, USA Network).
Losers of five of their last six games, the Dream, undoubtedly are in a rut, struggling to consistently live up to the high expectations that this iteration of the team has never faced.
But rather than being reactionary, patience, plus the returns of Angel Reese and Brionna Jones, are the solutions in Atlanta. After missing her first game of the season on Saturday, when the Dream gave up 102 points to the visiting Portland Fire, Reese is questionable to play; Jones, yet to debut in 2026, has been upgraded to questionable after she was listed as doubtful for Saturday.
However, compared to fans in LA and ATL, the X Factor likely feel like they most have the right to demand change.
The Phoenix Mercury are on course for the worst follow-up season by a WNBA Finals runner-up in league history, with Saturday’s record beatdown by the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday—a 48-point drubbing—serving as the loudest warning siren yet that something’s rotten in PHX.
Now, the Mercury will aim to avoid a four-game losing streak against one of the few teams that has no complaints.
The 2026 WNBA season has been a party for the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, as what could have been a lost season without Napheesa Collier has instead become a demonstration of the organization’s excellence. Under the guidance of head coach Cheryl Reeve, who will be shooting for career win No. 382 on Monday night, Olivia Miles is fast emerging as the future of the Lynx—and the league—all while a number of vets enjoy career-best seasons in a Minnesota uniform.
Collier is still out of the lineup on Monday night, although it is suspected that she will make her season debut before the All-Star break.
Lynx fans, are you all feeling as good as I assume? Mercury fans, who are you ready to fire into the sun (or to the Suns)? Dream fans, I am being too measured in my assessment of the team’s struggles? Have they earned some grace or is it past time to start meeting expectations?
And Sparks fans, do you support the decision to let Pebley go? What other moves, if any, do you want to see the team make before season’s end, whether to complete the playoff push or go into (another) rebuild?
Spill your analysis and opinions in the comments.
